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Top Asian News 2:04 a.m. GMT

Associated Press

The Latest: Koreas set next Kim-Moon summit for Sept. 18-20

Seoul says the leaders of the two Koreas will meet Sept. 18-20 in Pyongyang to discuss how to achieve the "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." Senior presidential official Chung Eui-yong told reporters Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un also reaffirmed his "firm resolve" to realize denuclearization when he met him in Pyongyang on Wednesday. Chung's trip came amid deadlocked diplomacy over North Korea's nuclear program. North Korea has taken several steps such as dismantling its nuclear testing site this year, but the U.S. wants it to take more serious disarmament measures. Chung says Kim's summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in will focus on what specific steps must be taken to realize the denuclearization.

Earthquake in northern Japan causes landslides, power loss

TOKYO (AP) — A powerful earthquake rocked Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido early Thursday, triggering landslides that crushed homes, knocking out power across the island, and forcing a nuclear power plant to switch to a backup generator. The magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck southern Hokkaido at 3:08 a.m. at the depth of 40 kilometers (24 miles), Japan'sMeteorological Agency said. The epicenter was east of the city of Tomakomai but the shaking also affected Hokkaido's prefectural capital of Sapporo, with a population of 1.9 million. The Japanese national broadcaster NHK, citing its own tally, reported that 125 people were injured and about 20 were feared missing.

The Latest: Japan broadcaster NHK says 125 injured in quake

The Japanese national broadcaster NHK is reporting that 125 people have been injured and about 20 are feared missing after a powerful quake triggered dozens of landslides in heavily forested mountains on the northern main island of Hokkaido. The magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck southern Hokkaido early Thursday morning. Power was knocked out across the island. The government said airports and many roads on the island were closed following the quake. Officials said that 25,000 troops and other personnel were being dispatched to the area to help with rescue operations.

North's media say Kim vows nuclear-free Korea amid standoff

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his commitment to a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula amid a growing standoff with the United States, his state-controlled media reported Thursday after a South Korean delegation met him to set up an inter-Korean summit. The statement from the Korean Central News Agency wasn't new information — Kim has repeatedly declared similar intentions before — but allows hopes to rise that diplomacy can get back on track after the recriminations that followed Kim's meeting in June with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore. The impasse between North Korea and the United States, with neither side seemingly willing to make any substantive move, has generated widespread skepticism over Trump's claims that Kim is intent on dismantling his nuclear weapons program.

World criticism doesn't have Suu Kyi or Myanmar on the ropes

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar's government looks as if it's under siege from an international community concerned about the condition of its nascent democracy, with widespread calls for a genocide tribunal to hold its military to account for the brutal treatment of its Muslim Rohingya minority. But experts say not to expect any change of course from the country's leader, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, even after a fresh round of withering criticism from abroad following Monday's show-trial conviction of two Reuters reporters who helped expose extrajudicial killings of 10 Rohingya men and boys. Suu Kyi's motivations are opaque. Even as a revered pro-democracy activist, the Nobel Peace laureate had a reputation for being autocratic, but now her core ideology has come into question.

Pence calls on Myanmar to free 2 Reuters reporters

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — U.S. Vice President Mike Pence called on Myanmar to immediately release two journalists who were sentenced to seven years' imprisonment on charges of possessing state secrets in connection with their reporting on massacres against Rohingya Muslims. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo from the Reuters news agency were sentenced Monday in proceedings that were widely decried as unfair. They had reported about the army's brutal counterinsurgency campaign that drove 700,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh. The subject is sensitive in Myanmar because of worldwide condemnation of the military's human rights abuses, which it denies. Pence on Tuesday tweeted the two should be "commended — not imprisoned — for their work exposing human rights violations & mass killings." "Freedom of religion & freedom of the press are essential to a strong democracy," he wrote in back-to-back tweets.

North Korean parade a tricky prelude to inter-Korean summit

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — As North Korea prepares for a massive parade Sunday featuring thousands of goose-stepping soldiers and lots of scary-looking missiles, some potentially capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, worry is rising in South Korea that a tentative, hard-won detente is starting to slip away. An authoritarian nation obsessed with big milestones, North Korea will use the celebration for the 70th anniversary of its national founding to glorify Kim Jong Un as a leader who's standing up for a powerful nation surrounded by enemies. Kim will also welcome a delegate from his most important ally, senior Chinese official Li Zhanshu, the third-ranking official of the country's ruling party and head of its rubberstamp parliament, whose presence at the parade would underscore Beijing's role as a major player in international efforts to solve the nuclear crisis.

Twin attacks in Afghan capital kill 20, wound 70

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Twin bombings at a wrestling training center in a Shiite neighborhood of Afghanistan's capital on Wednesday killed at least 20 people, including two reporters, and wounded 70, Afghan officials said. Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said a suicide bomber struck at the center and then a car bomb went off nearby. Sediqullah Tawhidi, a senior member of the Afghan journalists federation, said a reporter and a cameraman working for Tolo TV were among those killed, and that another local TV reporter was wounded. No one immediately claimed the attacks, but they bore the hallmarks of the country's Islamic State affiliate, which has carried out a wave of deadly bombings against minority Shiites.

Pakistan PM 'optimistic' after brief talks with Pompeo

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan's newly-elected Prime Minister Imran Khan met with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Islamabad on Wednesday, saying he was "optimistic" he could reset the relationship with Washington after the U.S. suspended aid over the country's alleged failure to combat militants. "You know I'm a born optimist," said Khan, a former star cricket player who was sworn in last month. "A sportsman always is an optimist. He steps on the field and he thinks he's going to win." Pompeo spent just four hours in Pakistan, his first visit to the country. At the airport before leaving for neighboring India, he said he was "hopeful" that a foundation had been laid to move forward.

India looks to bolster partnership with EU

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — India's president is hailing his country's strategic partnership with the European Union to work together on issues like terrorism and climate change. Indian President Ram Nath Kovind said after talks with Bulgaria counterpart Rumen Radev on Wednesday that both countries agree "that terrorism poses a great threat to humanity and a strong response is required to deal with this menace." India and Bulgaria are looking to deepen economic ties and to intensify cooperation on climate change, sustainable development and tourism. Kovind invited Bulgaria to become a key partner of India in the defense and IT sectors. The Indian head of state thanked Bulgaria for supporting his country's bid to become a U.N.